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Saturday, April 26, 2008

A list - A timeline of HillBill attacks on Obama

Over at Head of State an interesting list of attacks by the HillBill show on Obama. While its not exhaustive, that will be produced by some enterprising historians with massive amounts of time on their hands, it does show the pattern of events leading us to today's state of affairs.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Clyburn finally spills the truth

It seems that Pam's House Blend is the first to discuss the story that we should all be talking about - Rep. James Clyburn's statement that the Clinton's know they can't win and that their goal now is to destroy any hope that Obama can ever be elected so she can run again in 4 years.

With this one statement Rep. Clyburn has done more to expose the reality of the Clintons than scores of political opponents. He has my thanks!

Frankly its not a new idea for me - I've been thinking this for months and Chris Matthews of Hard Ball fame has said it several time on the tube. So Clyburn ain't alone. The importance here is not that the statement has been made, its been said publicly before, but rather who made the statement - the Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Thoreau once noted that "A grain of gold will gild a great surface, but not so much as a grain of wisdom". I like to think that the same holds true for a grain of truth. Clyburn has used a grain of truth to reveal the fetid reality of Clinton land for all to see. Much as they will try - it won't be boxed up and hidden away anytime soon.

Because it needs to be said again and again and again here's Pam posting:
Black Leader in House warns Clinton of the damage of win-at-all-costs
by: pam
Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 18:00:00 PM EDT

I saw this article in the NYT this AM and it should alarm Democratic Party leadership. If the endgame of Clinton supporters in primary slugfest is for Hillary to win the nomination at any cost, the price will be higher than the party may want to pay in the long run.

Representative James E. Clyburn (SC) is the third highest ranking Dem in the house -- and an undeclared superdelegate. He was the elected official who told Bill Clinton to "chill a little bit" when the now-infamous color-arousal tactics were ratcheting up in the Palmetto state. Clyburn, who still has no plans to endorse a candidate, is concerned that the Hillary Clinton campaign has done critical damage to the party's relationship with black voters in its quest to win.
In an interview with The New York Times late Thursday, Mr. Clyburn said Mr. Clinton's conduct in this campaign had caused what might be an irreparable breach between Mr. Clinton and an African-American constituency that once revered him. "When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar," Mr. Clyburn said. "I think black folks feel strongly that that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation."

Mr. Clyburn added that there appeared to be an almost "unanimous" view among African-Americans that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were "committed to doing everything they possibly can to damage Obama to a point that he could never win."

This is really a statement of feeling thrown under the bus, a term often associated with past maneuvers by the Clintons when it's beneficial to distance or disregard a group or individual standing between them and a political victory. That's common in politics, or course, but it comes up a lot for this duo, and it seems to be an open sore (or several dozen) that never fully heals.
Why gays, lesbians, blacks or any other minority trust the Clintons as far as they can throw them is beyond me.

This election is about power - what happens to the Democratic Party or the country is of no interest to the HillBill show - this is about putting them back on the thrown and they will destroy everything and anybody to get back into the White House.

I really can't wait to see how they respond - I sure they will send out one of their pet sycophants to drool all over the place. Perhaps it will be the slimey Howard Wolfson or the very slimey Harold Ickes or even the ultra slimey Terry McAuliffe. All we can do now is wait and see how they respond. I'm betting that they will be crushed, just crushed that folks would think such things of them - perhaps Hillary will cry again for good measure. Of course its all an act but its worked before and they think it will work again. Hopefully this time folks are wise to their games and will just tell 'em once and for all to just fuck right off.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Molly Ivins: Not. backing. Hillary.

While perusing MyDD I ran across part of an article by Molly Ivins way back in 2006 that explains why so many of us dislike the Clintons. After a little Googling the source appears to be here. For sake of clarity and respect for Ms. Molly below is her entire article.
- I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.

Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.

The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to re-learn it. It's about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.

If no one in conventional-wisdom politics has the courage to speak up and say what needs to be said, then you go out and find some obscure junior senator from Minnesota with the guts to do it. In 1968, Gene McCarthy was the little boy who said out loud, "Look, the emperor isn't wearing any clothes." Bobby Kennedy -- rough, tough Bobby Kennedy -- didn't do it. Just this quiet man trained by Benedictines who liked to quote poetry.

What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

I listen to people like Rahm Emanuel superciliously explaining elementary politics to us clueless naifs outside the Beltway ("First, you have to win elections"). Can't you even read the damn polls?

Here's a prize example by someone named Barry Casselman, who writes, "There is an invisible civil war in the Democratic Party, and it is between those who are attempting to satisfy the defeatist and pacifist left base of the party and those who are attempting to prepare the party for successful elections in 2006 and 2008."

This supposedly pits Howard Dean, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, emboldened by "a string of bad new from the Middle East ... into calling for premature retreat from Iraq," versus those pragmatic folk like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emmanuel, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman.

Oh come on, people -- get a grip on the concept of leadership. Look at this war -- from the lies that led us into it, to the lies they continue to dump on us daily.

You sit there in Washington so frightened of the big, bad Republican machine you have no idea what people are thinking. I'm telling you right now, Tom DeLay is going to lose in his district. If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to OWN the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely.

Do it all, go long, go for public campaign financing for Congress. I'm serious as a stroke about this -- that is the only reform that will work, and you know it, as well as everyone else who's ever studied this. Do all the goo-goo stuff everybody has made fun of all these years: embrace redistricting reform, electoral reform, House rules changes, the whole package. Put up, or shut up. Own this issue, or let Jack Abramoff politics continue to run your town.

Bush, Cheney and Co. will continue to play the patriotic bully card just as long as you let them. I've said it before: War brings out the patriotic bullies. In World War I, they went around kicking dachshunds on the grounds that dachshunds were "German dogs." They did not, however, go around kicking German shepherds. The MINUTE someone impugns your patriotism for opposing this war, turn on them like a snarling dog and explain what loving your country really means. That, or you could just piss on them elegantly, as Rep. John Murtha did. Or eviscerate them with wit (look up Mark Twain on the war in the Philippines). Or point out the latest in the endless "string of bad news."

Do not sit there cowering and pretending the only way to win is as Republican-lite. If the Washington-based party can't get up and fight, we'll find someone who can.
Note added in proof: It seems that Hillary's view of MoveOn before and after their endorsement of Obama changed a wee bit. Knowing the Clinton's track record on ethics, truth-telling and requirement of absolute loyalty from all no one should be surprised.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

openSUSE 11.0 is comming!



As of the 17th of April the next release of the best Linux distro is just 62 days away!